Redskins Nation is a half-hour show devoted to giving fane unfiltered access to the day's events at Redskins Park. Hosted by Larry Michael, the show features Redskins players, coaches, and sit-down interviews with team officials. (Show re-airs at 11:30 p.m./7:30 a.m. daily)

Redskins Nation is a half-hour show devoted to giving fane unfiltered access to the day's events at Redskins Park. Hosted by Larry Michael, the show features Redskins players, coaches, and sit-down interviews with team officials. (Show re-airs at 11:30 p.m./7:30 a.m. daily)

Redskins Nation is a half-hour show devoted to giving fane unfiltered access to the day's events at Redskins Park. Hosted by Larry Michael, the show features Redskins players, coaches, and sit-down interviews with team officials. (Show re-airs at 11:30 p.m./7:30 a.m. daily)

Redskins Nation is a half-hour show devoted to giving fane unfiltered access to the day's events at Redskins Park. Hosted by Larry Michael, the show features Redskins players, coaches, and sit-down interviews with team officials. (Show re-airs at 11:30 p.m./7:30 a.m. daily)

Redskins Nation is a half-hour show devoted to giving fane unfiltered access to the day's events at Redskins Park. Hosted by Larry Michael, the show features Redskins players, coaches, and sit-down interviews with team officials. (Show re-airs at 11:30 p.m./7:30 a.m. daily)

Redskins Nation is a half-hour show devoted to giving fane unfiltered access to the day's events at Redskins Park. Hosted by Larry Michael, the show features Redskins players, coaches, and sit-down interviews with team officials. (Show re-airs at 11:30 p.m./7:30 a.m. daily)

Redskins Nation is a half-hour show devoted to giving fane unfiltered access to the day's events at Redskins Park. Hosted by Larry Michael, the show features Redskins players, coaches, and sit-down interviews with team officials. (Show re-airs at 11:30 p.m./7:30 a.m. daily)

Redskins Nation is a half-hour show devoted to giving fane unfiltered access to the day's events at Redskins Park. Hosted by Larry Michael, the show features Redskins players, coaches, and sit-down interviews with team officials. (Show re-airs at 11:30 p.m./7:30 a.m. daily)

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When Anthony Armstrong casually made a Red Bull comment about his leaping touchdown Sunday, I’m pretty sure that he was just trying to offer up a moderately amusing soundbite and he never expected to hear about it again. Then he got to Redskins Park today.

“I pulled up to the front gate,” Armstrong said today, “and the guy was like, ‘I don’t know what you said, but we got some energy drinks up here for you,’ and the letter said, You mentioned Red Bull so let me give you an alternative.'”

Which is why there were two cases of Liquid Lightning Energy Drink sitting in front of Armstrong’s locker, one of the white cans of sugar free and the other of the black cans of high-test.

“I had one this morning and it tastes all right,” Armstrong said, noting that he drinks energy drinks “a little bit,” if he really needs them.

Now he just needs to figure out if he can parlay this strategy into an actual trend. “I might start plugging things in there,” joking that he could mention, for example, Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse and see what showed up at the park the next day. “It’s all about the marketing of the game — and I was a marketing major.”

Other things worth reading today, including at least two more bits of Anthony Armstrong-related goofiness: Read more »

Before DeAngelo Hall fielded our hard-hitting questions about his twitpic with Alex Ovechkin, he did actually address some more traditional football-related matters. He talked while standing on a stool — “This is what it feels like when I talk to you,” he said down to Comcast SportsNet’s Kelli Johnson — which brought back memories of previous (and notably dramatic) DHall locker room media chats. There was no drama this time. Hall’s tone was a bit less brash than he sometimes comes across, a little more measured and careful. But he still displayed his characteristic bluntness.

For example, talking about LaRon Landry‘s terrific start to this season:

“I don’t think anybody ever had to question LaRon’s effort and his enthusiasm and just how hard he goes,” Hall said, “but for him to take it on himself to even go harder, push himself and push his body even harder, man, I don’t think there’s anybody that gives more effort than him. But for him to find that extra little bit more to give it to us every week, man, he’s been great about that. Doesn’t take a day off in practice, goes even harder in practice. He’s a guy who’s definitely playing at a high level right now.”

He continued, “He’s real comfortable. He feels right at home. You’d think, watching him, that he’s been in this system four or five years. He just feels that great in it, and it’s obviously showing out there on the field. He’s able to make plays, running around tackling guys, just playing the kind of football he likes to play.”

Or his comments about the defense’s uncanny ability to knock the other team’s star players out of the game (including an amusing joke at Carlos Rogers‘ expense): Read more »

Like this:

Several people who are upset about the release of Devin Thomas have made comments to me about the Redskins wide receiving corps beginning to look like The Smurfs 2. (Why this is an inherently bad thing is never made clear to me; the original Smurfs were instrumental in the 1982 Super Bowl season. [That’s the original REDSKINS Smurfs, obviously, not the blue cartoon from Belgium.] But whatever.) And you can certainly see where that observation comes from: Santana Moss has never been the biggest of guys, and he towers over Brandon Banks; Anthony Armstrong isn’t notably tiny, but he’s not a huge guy either.

Well, people who don’t like that are probably going to be less than thrilled with the latest wide receiver signed to the Redskins practice squad: Ray Small is listed at 5-11, 180, but that seems generous. Heck, he even has a diminutive last name. Small played college ball at Ohio State, where he returned kickoffs and punts in addition to catching passes, and he says that his 40 time is a 4.38. He was in training camp with the Minnesota Vikings and caught 4 passes for 43 yards during two preseason games with the team, but was cut during the preseason and returned to Columbus to train and wait for a call.

And wait. And wait. “I thought it was over for me,” Small said today.

Then the Redskins called, and they offered Small the one thing he says he was looking for: “They told me I have an opportunity,” Small said. “That’s basically all a player needs: an opportunity. So hopefully I can come in, show what I can do, my work ethic, hopefully get bumped up.”

Until then, Small will practice with the team, probably act as Devin Hester and DeSean Jackson and other speedsters on the scout team, and generally irritate the Smurf Haters.

Meanwhile, here’s a punt return from Small during his Ohio State days, with that speed on full display.

During today’s open locker room, he explained a little bit about how that came about. “He came up to me after the game, said ‘What’s up,’ wanted to see how everything was going,” Hall said. Which is probably pretty much just like your postgame, bumping into old friends and/or the greatest hockey player on the planet.

Hall added that he’d met Ovechkin “a couple of times before” and that since he’s been in D.C. he’s gone to a couple of hockey games. “He’s a Skins fan,” Hall said. “You know, as D.C. guys, we all gotta stick together. We all go support John Wall — he done been to a couple football games too — so, you know, we’ll all stick together.”

He also explained the slightly complicated process of explaining to his son — NOT a hockey fan — who Ovechkin was. Read more »

Like this:

In the most basic sense, Lorenzo Alexander needs no introduction. He’s in his fourth season on the Redskins active roster (after spending much of 2006 on the Redskins practice squad). He’s played just about every position on defense, a couple on offense, and is a special teams standout. He’s active in the community and on Twitter, and has even achieved that singular honor of being immortalized in cartoon form for Hail!.

So you already know who Lorenzo Alexander is, and from that perspective he needs no introduction.

But he’s now a starting linebacker, and starters get introduced by name at the beginning of home football games, so — necessary or not — Sunday marked the first official introduction of Lorenzo Alexander at FedExField. (He did start one game in 2007, but was not introduced.)

And that was kind of a thrill for a guy who has really worked to get his name recognized. Read more »

Like this:

Redskins safety LaRon Landry set the defensive tone for Sunday’s game against the Packers by forcing a fumble on Green Bay’s first drive, and he helped seal the Redskins comeback by intercepting Aaron Rodgers’ final pass to put the Redskins in position for the winning field goal. In between those two things, he recorded a game-high 13 tackles (including 10 solo) , and generally continued what is shaping up as an excellent season for him.

And because of that, he was named this week’s NFC Defensive Player Of The Week, the announcement coming just a day before his 26th birthday. So, yeah, pretty good week for Landry.

But before he was NFC Defensive Player Of The Week, he was Comcast SportsNet’s Player Of The Game; here’s his interview after receiving that honor.